Hey, you lookin’ at me?

No. Not that kind of lookin‘. I mean Look in, the 1980’s kids TV magazine.

I found these 1980’s annuals from my childhood. Yes, they were mine. Yes, I’m really that old (I’m 43).

I found two Look in annuals, from 1986 and 1988. I don’t know what happened in 1987.

There was also a bonus copy of a 1988 Wide Awake Club annual. How exciting!

And what lies inside these beautiful relics from my 1980s childhood?

 

Yes, that’s Mr T, who was starring in The A-Team back then, and ALF, a comedy American alien.

 

And, yes, those are pop stars from yesteryear, Mel and Kim, and 5-Star. Any excuse to include a throwback pop video…

For those of you that don’t know, Look in was a weekly kids’ TV magazine, and every year an annual was released, a special book for parents to buy their children for Christmas.

The Wide Awake Club annual, however, was not from a magazine; it was a tie-in from a morning kids’ TV show. Let’s take a closer look…

 

Yes, among all the frivolity, there’s a surprisingly serious article about nuclear power. Well, this was the 1980’s after all…

 

Look at all those pop stars! Kim Wilde, The Real Thing (who?), Swing Out Sister, Owen Paul and, erm, Wurzil Gummidge (a slightly scary comedy scarecrow), H2O (honestly, I have no idea) some bloke called Greedy (again, who?), Mel and Kim, Erasure, Fine Young Cannibals and Nick Kamen.

In case you’re curious, Greedy was the lead singer of Mental As Anything… don’t worry, if you haven’t got a clue what I’m talking about, even I had completely forgotten about them.

And I’ll leave you with this. Roland Rat. I hated him. I hate him still. Some things are best left in the 80s.